PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Three men who are each more than 20 years into life sentences are hoping a judge will throw out their convictions in the 1997 murder of a 70-year-old Delaware County woman.
Through their incarceration, Samuel Grasty, Derrick Chappell and Morton Johnson have maintained their innocence.
Henrietta Nickens was beaten and sexually assaulted inside her Chester home in October 1997.
The three men, who are all now in their 40s, were convicted based on testimony from then 15-year-old Richard McElwee, who claimed he served as a lookout when the trio entered Nickens’ home.
Grasty’s, attorney Paul Casteleiro, said newly tested DNA of an unidentified person should trump McElwee’s story and warrant a retrial.
“Found at the crime scene is a jacket, and on the jacket is the wearer’s DNA,” he said. “My firm belief, based on all the work I’ve done in the cases, is that this kid was coerced into falsely confessing.”
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The prosecution maintains, however, that the DNA is not new evidence, and that investigators have always known there was evidence someone else sexually assaulted Nickens.
“It doesn’t change the facts,” said First Assistant District Attorney Tanner Rouse.
“Mr. McElwee has at no point indicated anything untoward about his confession. He has never recanted. He has never suggested that it was in any way untruthful. He has never suggested he was coerced of anything.”
Attorneys now have 60 days to review the hearing and submit opposition. They will then have 30 days for counterarguments before a judge decides if a new trial is warranted.
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